De Danann – Selected Jigs Reels & Songs (CD)

Of all the unlikely pairings in Irish music, this may top the lot: the second De Danann album was recorded in 1976 at the studio of Conny Plank, the legendary German producer behind Kraftwerk, with Johnny Moynihan of Planxty and Sweeney's Men joining the Galway five-piece on bouzouki, mandolin and vocals. Released in 1977 on the German Voggenreiter label, it then vanished from print for forty-six years, its rarity only adding to its standing among those who consider it the band's finest hour.

The playing bears that out. Frankie Gavin's fiddle and Alec Finn's bouzouki are already telepathic on the opening Tom Billy's set, Charlie Piggott's banjo cuts through the reels, and the arrangements shift and breathe in a way the band would later trade for full-throttle unison. Moynihan's singing on Love Will You Marry Me and The Banks of Red Roses is worth the price alone. Long a collector's grail, back in circulation at last.